And then he could not only sense them, but hear them out in the dark. Footsteps. He couldn't count their numbers by ear, but only moments later he saw them. Five of them. Two males, three females. They approached cautiously, and stopped a dozen or so yards away. He stood still and waited. The whole group was together in front of him now, he could tell, which at least meant that none of them was trying to circle around behind him and get at the two he guarded.

"You have humans," said one of the females. "Two of them."

He said nothing.

She took a step forward, then one of the males grabbed her arm and spoke in a low, intense voice. David could just barely make out his words. "That's the Hunter! They said he had a cape, and a hat, it has to be him. If you go near him he'll kill you!"

She stopped. David could sense the sudden increase in tension. This was no longer a case of vampires testing their pack dynamics. This was much more serious, and deadly.

"So you're the Hunter," she said.

David still didn't reply. He really couldn't think of anything to say. And silence, he knew, was much more intimidating than words.

She snarled at him. "What's to stop us from surrounding you and killing you right now?"

He grinned and finally spoke. "There are only five of you. There were seven in the lair at Cottonwood."

There was a murmur among them at that. They knew about the lair. The story was becoming as infamous among vampires as stories of vampire atrocities were among humans.

"There's just one of you," she said. "No doubt you had help there. There's no way you could beat us all."

David answered without words. Instead he attacked her mind, putting absolutely everything he had into it, every ounce of his strength to quickly, utterly overpower her. In an instant he held her. Then he let her go.

She gasped and swayed as he released his grip. "I was alone at Cottonwood," he said. "But tonight I do not particularly feel like killing, I came here for other reasons. If you just turn and go, you will all live for at least a few nights longer. Otherwise I will kill you all right now. Choose."

He could sense the hesitant tension and fear among them. Then one of the males turned and walked away, muttering "I want to live, you all can do as you like."

That was the breaking point. Now there were only four, the odds were not quite as good as they had been with five. The female who seemed to be the leader growled at him, baring her fangs, but she too turned and left with the others.

David stood and watched, tensed, until they had vanished completely into the darkness. Then he lowered his sword and let out the breath he'd been holding with a whoosh.

"That was close."

He turned to find Megan and his mother both looking shaken. He could hear their hearts racing. "Mom... I am very glad I could see you tonight, but it's not really safe here, not even with me. You should go back to the city."

She took a steadying breath and nodded. "Yes. But... I am glad I came. I've missed you. I'm glad you're alive."

He chuckled softly. "For a given value of alive, yes. Well, let's go. I'll walk with you until we reach the lights, and you should be safe to go on alone from there."